House of Cards Season two debuts on Netflix to more viewers than season one

Netflix is really growing quickly and is starting to challenge traditional pay cable channels for subscribers. One of the most popular original shows on Netflix is House of Cards. Recently we learned that the people behind House of Cards shopped the show to HBO and other networks before settling on Netflix.

The second season of House of Cards hit Netflix last Friday, and has seen an uptick in watchers compared to the first season. All 13 episodes of House of Cards season two debuted on February 14. A company called Procera that manages web traffic for broadband companies says that 16% of Netflix users viewed at least one episode of the series when it premiered.

When the first season of the show debuted, only 2% of Netflix subscribers viewed an episode during its premiere. The information on viewers was gleaned from Netflix viewers accessing the service though one cable operator.

Which cable operator was tracked is unknown. Netflix doesn't offer viewership numbers for its programs and the programs aren't tracked through traditional means like Nielsen Media. House of Cards was the first streaming exclusive show to win major awards.